Films! good, bad, recomendations, and general film talk

[ElectricTurkey4369]

I have been really starting to appreciate Memento recently after about my third time watching it. My first time I was confused and had to think it over, but after seeing all the little hints and phrases characters say, and understanding how the movie flows i cant stop thinking about it. easily one of the best twists in a movie. Then the Usual Suspects, that one caught me!

[Philly Q]

The Crazies (1973) and The Crazies (2010).

Interesting to see how the remake approaches the same story in a completely different way.  Thoroughly enjoyed them both!

[Plexi Ken]

Haven't seen the remake but I though the '73 version was a very good film.

Daybreakers - I've nothing to say about this film other than it's absolute utter garbage!

Billy Connolly Live in London 2010 - It's probably unfair to compare his current routines to his peek (20+ years ago), but this is poor stuff. He no longer 'flows' and that was always Connolly's speciality. Without it, he's just on ordinary comic telling some OK stories and some old jokes.

[Philly Q]

Daybreakers - I've nothing to say about this film other than it's absolute utter garbage!

 :lol:  I really enjoyed it!  There were some good - if not wholly original - ideas in there, but it would've been better given more time to develop them - it all seemed very rushed, especially at the end.   At least it was never boring.

Incidentally, for a really terrible vampire film check out Dead Cert.  c--kernee gangsters (Craig Fairbrass, Dexter Fletcher, Perry Benson, the usual suspects....) take on Romanian vampires (led, most unconvincingly, by Billy Murray from The Bill, who doesn't even attempt an accent).


Last night I watched Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket on Blu-ray.  Liked it even more than I did the first time.  :D

[Plexi Ken]

Book of Eli - Another future apocalypse, civilisation destroyed, anarchy & lawlessness - film but unlike The Road, there's very little originality here. It's a bit like a Mad Max with a Christian twist (The Bible is involved in the plot). Some fun scenes and interesting action camera work but the whole film is a massive plot hole.

The Mighty Boosh on Tour: Journey of the Childmen - Behind the scenes on-the-road documentary in the style of so many. I'm a Boosh fan so was always likely to enjoy this but in reality it follows a too well worn path, i.e. touring is unglamorous, monotonous and very hard work, the opposite of the stereotype.

Bill Bailey Live: Dandelion Mind - Excellent, I love Bill Bailey and this is another example of why he is such a great stand-up. As usual, there are some good musical numbers. A particular highlight for me was his interpretation of Cars by Gary Numan. OOOOOOOOoooooooooooooud.

[Philly Q]

I watched two films yesterday:

Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly  Strange but rather excellent early '70s British black comedy horror (of sorts) directed by Freddie Francis.

Legion  Well I had been warned.... love the concept of avenging angels descending on Earth, but it ends up as a lame, dull hybrid of The Terminator and Assault On Precinct 13.  Waste of a good cast too.  The old Christopher Walken film, The Prophecy, did the same sort of thing, but much better.


Today, if I have time, I'm going to watch The Thin Red Line on Blu-ray.

[James C]

Legion  Well I had been warned.... love the concept of avenging angels descending on Earth, but it ends up as a lame, dull hybrid of The Terminator and Assault On Precinct 13.  Waste of a good cast too.  The old Christopher Walken film, The Prophecy, did the same sort of thing, but much better.

I saw legion and would have to agree with the assault on precinct 13 comparisons, but i have to admit that i still liked it.

also watched Gabriel and much preferred the direction, but the twist at the end wasn't as unexpected as it could have been

[_tom_]

Zombieland - loved it :D

Really liking zombie stuff at the minute after watching The Walking Dead (however, this is going downhill fast - episode 4 is shitee). What are some good zombie/apocalypse-type films? :)

[Philly Q]

also watched Gabriel and much preferred the direction, but the twist at the end wasn't as unexpected as it could have been

Hadn't heard of that one, just added it to my rental list.  Cheers!

[dave_mc]

watched yes man. terrible.

[_tom_]

Not a film again but just started watching Boardwalk Empire. Seems really good so far :)

[Philly Q]

Really liking zombie stuff at the minute after watching The Walking Dead (however, this is going downhill fast - episode 4 is shiteee). What are some good zombie/apocalypse-type films? :)

Oh god, there are so many!!

For the real classics, there are George Romero's zombie films (the first three, Night Of The Living Dead, Dawn Of The Dead and Day Of The Dead).  Dead And Buried is very good.  If you want comedy, Return Of The Living Dead (not Romero) is great, and Peter Jackson's Braindead is awesome.  

There were dozens of great (and not-so-great) European zombie movies in the '70s and '80s - try these for starters:
Zombie (aka Zombi 2 aka Zombie Flesh Eaters)
The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue (aka Let Sleeping Corpses Lie)
Tombs Of The Blind Dead

More recently, there's 28 Days Later of course, the Resident Evil movies (rubbish but I like 'em), the remakes of Dawn Of The Dead and The Crazies...

For post-apocalyptic movies (without zombies), Mad Max 2 inspired a load of Italian rip-offs - they were cheap and you could film them on abandoned roads and disused quarries!  See Bronx Warriors, The New Barbarians, 2019: After The Fall Of New York, etc.  And Neil Marshall's Doomsday is a modern tribute to those kinds of films.


Sorry, I'm rambling.  That's just scratching the surface.  There are hundreds of these films, most of them terrible.... but that's part of the fun really.  :lol:

[WezV]

i am liking the walking dead - didnt think episode 4 was any worse than the others.   i think its going to be fun seeing the long term zombie apocalypse fun the series could offer... which does mean they will have the odd sideline stories involving other groups of survivors they meet and the 4th episode was really the first of them

Recently went through the comics too and they seem to have done a good job of adapting them whilst still adding some surprises for fans of the series... although i cant see them going quite as dark as the comic series.   But i think we can rely on them to keep one think always faithfull... as soon as things seem happy - the shite will hit the fan!

[_tom_]

I really liked the first two episodes, but 3&4 were a bit too slow for me. Hoping 5 will stir it up again!

Just watched Dinner for Schmucks and it was way better than I thought it would be. Not an amazing film or anything but a "stupid" fun film.

[Matt77]

Just watched and enjoyed episode 5 on-line
I'll watch anything with zombies in even if it's shite
I even enjoyed 'Flight of the Living Dead'